Homeschooling for College-Prep - Part 1
by Erin Cyr
What Colleges Expect
First off, college is not for everyone, and for some folks, right after high school might not be the best time to go to college. I started college right after high school, but it wasn't the right time for me, and I eventually graduated at 28 years old. That being said, I have been homeschooling a kid who would very much like to go to college. In fact, it has been her driving force for the last few years, and it’s been fun to be along for the ride.
Record-keeping
For me, the key to not feeling overwhelmed has been good record-keeping. There are lots of homeschooling styles available to us, which is awesome. If you think your kid might want to go to college, it’s good practice to keep track of what your kids are up to in terms of learning and activities, no matter what type of homeschooling you do. That might mean keeping track of classes and grades for you, and/or slowly building a record of activities, volunteering, sports, etc. You want to document what you’re doing at the time instead of looking back over four years and guessing at how many hours they spent doing each thing, or what they got on that final in biology two years ago.
As I said, your homeschool may look very different from ours, but my mind needs a structure to help me keep everything in order. For the high school years, we have been using Homeschool Planet to keep track of classes, grades, and build a transcript. I write a lot of our curriculum or purchase other curricula as a jumping off point to personalize for my student, so Homeschool Planet has helped me to organize all of my ideas into specific assignments. It keeps track of grades and will make printouts of transcripts, report cards, and assignment lists. I have liked using it, and it has features I haven’t needed, but someone else might really love.
Being the guidance counselor
I definitely took my high school guidance counselor for granted and look back on him fondly. I had no idea how much they do “behind the scenes” until I became my child’s guidance counselor to help prepare her for college. There are items that are part of the application process that I didn’t even know about, like the school profile and counselor’s letter, and they are now my responsibility to learn about and complete. I went to high school in Peabody, and I’m sure their school profile was an old document that had been used for college applicants for years, but the one I am writing is personalized for how we have homeschooled.
If your student wants to go to college, you will need to put on your guidance counselor’s hat to navigate a checklist of items they will need to apply. Colleges have different requirements for admission. This includes what high school courses were taken, GPA, class rank, test scores, volunteerism, etc. It’s your job as the guidance counselor to present your student as a desirable package that fulfills the college’s requirements. Of course, there’s only so much you can do as the parent and hopefully, your student will find the school that meets their own criteria for the next level of their education. This list of things you and your student will need might not be for every type of college, but it will meet most colleges’ requirements.
Classes & Credits
Colleges love to see a student that follows a 5x4 plan. This means that they took classes in math, science, history, English, and world language for four years with rigor increasing each year. Less rigorous colleges might have requirements that are one year less of science or math, but, in general, it’s a good idea to have taken those five classes every year of high school.
For general college applicants, 21-25 credits should appear on their high school transcript, and for a more rigorous college, 26-28 credits is ideal. You will need to make a transcript for your student that details all of the classes they have taken during the high school years, the grades they received, and how many credits each class was worth. Most high school classes taken for the full year are 1 credit, and half-year classes are ½ credit.
Because your classes may not be those traditionally taken at a brick-and-mortar high school you should also include course descriptions. These are documents (about one page per course) that describe the class, the grading system, the materials used, and the student’s final grade. Admission officers at a local college might have seen the local public high school’s version of grade 10 literature before, but they definitely haven’t seen a class like your self-designed class on painting the seascape of the North Shore or whatever clever class you have created for your art-loving student.
School Profile
You will need to write a school profile as well. This helps the college understand where your student is coming from and what their learning process looked like. It’s a way to detail your homeschool philosophy, talk about outside educational providers, and your method for grading. It’s not the place to gush about your brilliant child, just provide the facts about what your homeschool structure has looked like over the last 4 years.
Recommendations
The place to brag about your kiddo is in the counselor’s letter. This is where you can talk about your child as a student and use lots of descriptive (and accurate!) praise. You have a unique insight as both the parent and your child’s teacher. You have seen them grow and develop and you know why they are a good fit for their college dreams.
In addition to the above list, you should plan to be supporting your child through the parts of applying to college that are solely their responsibility. They will need to choose some recommenders, folks who are willing to write letters of support. That might be an outside provider, someone they have worked for, a clergy member, or a mentor. Help your student choose someone who appreciates how they are special and is aware of their skills and talents. It’s a good idea to have a resume or “qbrag sheet” that shares more information about the student. For example, if your student has an art teacher they have taken classes from, they might not know them well beyond the scope of who your child is while in their classroom. A brag sheet would give the recommender new insight, like their years of playing soccer, volunteering at a local charity, etc. Encourage your child to shine a light on themselves for their resume so that their recommenders feel confident about their choice to write a letter for them.
Tests
If your student is taking tests (SAT, ACT, CLEP, or AP) you will probably need to help them get those scores sent through to the colleges they are applying to. Many colleges have gone test-optional in recent years, but many still require scores for certain scholarships or honors programs. If your student took any dual enrollment courses they will also need to request official transcripts to be sent to the colleges. For both test scores and dual enrollment some colleges may accept unofficial or self-reported scores through the Common App, but you may need to send official transcripts along as a condition for being accepted.
Essays
Then there’s the college essay, or personal statement as they are now calling it. If your student is using the Common App to apply to schools there are six or seven essay prompts that your child can choose from. Some schools might request additional essays, and colleges in California do not use the Common App and have their own application systems. Keep in mind that your student might need several completed essays that they will use for college applications, scholarship contests, or to get into honors programs. Get them started on these early so they have lots of time for editing and perfecting.
Other Concerns
My last bit of advice is to consider getting yourself and your student email addresses that are just for your guidance counseling and college application process. My regular email is from my years as a small business owner, and while it reflects who I am as a person, it’s not ideal to reflect a level of professionalism as a homeschooler and guidance counselor. Think “your name at mailsite.com” rather than “fun cute name at mailsite.com.”
Is this all overwhelming? It might be, but there’s lots of help on the internet! Once I started learning about all these expectations I started looking for templates. Why reinvent the wheel? My favorite site for templates for items like the school profile, transcript, and counselor letter is www.FearlessHomeschoolers.com. I have found so many great ideas and support from this site and their Facebook groups. The templates aren’t free, but I feel they are worth the price. You might find other great templates somewhere else online. I also have enjoyed using www.collegeessayguy.com.
 |
Erin lives in Salem, MA, and homeschools their 16-year-old daughter, who will graduate in spring 2026. They are the founder and administrator of the Salem Homeschooling Association and serve as AHEM's Town Point Person for Salem. Erin has thoroughly enjoyed homeschooling and they are deeply grateful for the many lessons, people, and fun it has brought into their family's life. |